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Monday, June 27, 2011

Rosenthal thinks the Astros should trade Pence to Atlanta

Smilin Ken Rosenthal wonders, while admitting the chances of this are slim:

The Astros need to rebuild around pitching. They’ve got right-handers Bud Norris and Jordan Lyles in place. What if they could move Pence to the Braves for a package built around one or more of Atlanta’s many appealing young arms?

They would save money. They would increase their inventory of young talent. They would kick-start a rebuilding process that is long overdue.

3 comments:

Warren
said...

Atlanta will not give up 1 or 2 good young arms. Why not just use these young arms themselves? Trades for prospects is a crap shoot unless the player has been good all through their minor league career, healthy, and major league ready. Good hitting outfielders are one of the easiest positions to fill. The Braves probably have some up and coming outfielders of quality in the minors. I like Pence on the Astros but he is just not good enough to command several top quality prospects. Neither is Rodriguez or any other player on the team. But, who knows maybe there is another team that is as inept at judging talent as Astros have been over recent years. Put them out there and see if anyone bites. Certainly not much to lose.

The Braves have far more young arms who are MLB-ready or close to MLB-ready than they can fit into their rotation.

Teheran, Minor, Beachy, Delgado, and Vizcaino are all fantastic prospects. Any one of those guys would make a solid centerpiece in exchange for Pence. Getting two would be robbery.

They also have an assortment of arms a tier down on the totem pole, like Craig Kimbrel, J.J. Hoover, Carlos Perez, Scott Diamond, and others, who could be included as additional pieces in a trade package.

I'm not sure I favor trading Hunter Pence--it depends entirely on what direction Crane intends to take with the ballclub. But if I were going to trade Pence, my first call would be to Atlanta about their pitching.

If the Braves would give up Teheron and Minor I would make the trade. But they would likely make those 2 untouchable and would probably offer one of the other guys at triple a and 1 at double a level where prospects are still a gamble. That would not be enough for me. Also if you trade Pence and do not resign Bourne when the time comes all you have left to play the outfield is Bourgeois who i believe will be 30 next year. No quality outfield prospects at triple a and only Marinez at double a. hate to see another ex Astro come back and beat us down like Berkman. Pence may have 4 or 5 good years left. An offer of 2 top pitching prospects would do it for me though. Apprehesive of Astros management avoiding getting taken once again.

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